John Donne

John Donne (22 January 1572-31 March 1631) was an English poet and Anglican clergyman of the 17th century. He was regarded as a metaphysical poet, and he was known for his sensual poems, his holy sonnets, his sermons, and his hymns. Some of his most famous works include "The Flea" (a sonnet about a lover refusing to give her body to her lustful lover), "Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness" (written during a December 1623 sickness, making peace with his coming death), and "A Hymn to God the Father" (another 1623 sickness work in which he prays for God to forgive his sins, and reiterates his faith in God). In addition to being a renowed poet and clergyman, he served in Parliament in 1601 and 1614.

Biography
John Donne was born in London, England on 22 January 1572, and he came from a devout Roman Catholic household; Donne was a distant relative of Thomas More. His family was once prosperous, but it was persecuted for its loyalty to the Catholic Church. Two of Donne's uncles, Jesuit priests, were forced to flee the realm, while his brother died in prison of the plague while imprisoned for harboring a priest. Donne attended Oxford before dropping out without a degree, and he also studied law for a time at the Inns of Court. He faced prejudice, official harassment, and crippling financial penalties until he decided to convert to the Church of England in the 1590s after travelling abroad and devoting several years to studying theological issues. He now had security, social acceptance, and the possibility of a public career, and he served in Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex's military expedition against Catholic Spain in Cadiz and the Azores during the Anglo-Spanish War. Upon his return, he became secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, but his secret marriage in 1601 to Egerton's 17-year-old niece Ann More enraged Egerton and led to Donne's brief imprisonment and dismissal from service. He was reduced to a retired country life, and Ann bore him twelve children before dying at the age of 33. As his family grew, Donne turned to poetry, penning Pseudo-Martyr in 1610 to win the approval of King James I of England. He also wrote Ignatius His Conclave in 1611 to satirize the Jesuits, and he also wrote several poems for friends and patrons. In 1615, King James forced Donne to be ordained into the Church of England, and he became a court preacher, reader in divinity at Lincoln's Inn, and dean of St. Paul's. He became known for his powerful sermons, 160 of which survived for centuries. He died in 1631 at the age of 59, and, two years later, his "Songs and Sonnets" were posthumously published.